Handbell choirs have been around for many years and have performed in churches, schools and other settings. Handbell music typically sounds quite beautiful, however, the music can be significantly affected by the coordination of the sounds produced by the individual bell choir members.
In a typical handbell choir, each individual in the choir holds in their hand one or two bells. Each bell in the choir rings a single note unique from the notes of all the other bells in the choir. A musical piece is performed by choir members ringing a coordinated succession of musical notes that correspond with the notes of the song being performed. Proper coordination of the ringing of various bells by handbell choir members is a challenge for any handbell choir. This coordination can be done by preprogramming. Preprogramming is the process by which individual choir members memorize the sequence of bell-ringing for a particular musical piece. The disadvantage to preprogramming is that it requires a significant amount of memorization and practice for each handbell choir member to ready themselves for even a simple musical performance.
As an alternative to preprogramming, each choir member could read a musical score, and from the musical score take cues as to when particular notes are to be sounded. The advantage of such music-reading is that it lessens the amount of practice necessary for the handbell choir members to ready themselves for a musical performance. The disadvantage to such music-reading is that it requires each choir member to be able to read music, a skill which most members of the general public, as well as many musicians do not have. Such disadvantages are especially pronounced when the handbell choir members are children or even the physically challenged.
Children tend to have shorter attention-spans than adults and thus are less likely to memorize bell-ringing sequences or to spend the time required learning to read music. The physically challenge have difficulty either reading music because they are vision impaired, or tone challenged because they are hearing impaired.
Groups of musicians and artists have been performing in concert for many years. Traditionally, musicians are lead by conductors who coordinate the performance. To do this, the conductor controls the musicians by commanding them to play according to the timing and rhythm of the music. There are many benefits to participating in such performances. Benefits include self-esteem building, group cohesion, teambuilding (how to cooperate with others), hand-eye coordination, gross motor skill development, right-left laterality, competency, social development, and many others.
Historically, the prerequisites for bell choir members were limited to members of the population who had vision, hearing, and memory abilities. Accordingly, there is a need for a system that allows children or physically challenged individuals to perform in concert as a coordinated group. More specifically what is needed is a more individualized system of alert signals, such as a system for signaling individualized handbell choir members when each one is to ring their specific bell. The system should also not interfere or detract from the visual appearance of a choir on a stage or other performance setting.
This system enables people with no formal music training or ability to perform in concert. The system is comprised of two parts, each part having many components. Part one is the central remote control unit which utilizes musical data to send wireless rhythmic signals to bell choirs. Part two is made up of multiple receiving units which receive the wireless rhythmic signals and prompt users to play their instruments. The receiving units can receive the signal and ring out reproduced digital sounds of various musical instruments.
Recent progress in the miniaturization of electronics has made it possible to produce lightweight receiving units, comparable to the size of a cell phone. Cell phones and similar electronic devices are user-friendly and are saturated throughout society. In addition, the use of cell phones in vibrate mode has made the system's quick training a familiar experience for virtually all segments of the population. If a person has held a cell phone, they can perform music with this system.